Tired traveller

 
 Phuket day 4, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia day 1

After getting about two hours of sleep, I managed to get up at like 6 am for my flight to Kuala Lumpur.



I was sharing a cab with the German guy that was sleeping in the bed across from me. My stuff was disorganized and all over the place from being out the night before, it was a pain to get everything together quickly and quietly. When I got to the lobby, our taxi was already waiting for us but the guy working at the bar/front desk apparently didn't have access to the key deposit money he had to return to us, so it turned into a big ordeal where he had to call his boss. We ended up waiting for nearly half an hour, I was getting worried if I was even going to make my flight and our taxi driver was getting impatient. Finally we got the key deposit money and were on our way, nearly half asleep and all. When we got to the airport, it was a quick goodbye then a mad dash to the check in counter.

The line up was pretty long and didn't seem to be moving quickly, I was on edge of my feet the whole time as I was at the back of the line and worried that they would stop checking people in for the flight as the time was nearly half an hour to departure. By some miracle, I got checked in, got through passport control and ran over to my gate as they were boarding. I was really impressed with Air Asia, it being the second time that I've flown with them. Everything is super clean and the planes are modern they even emitted this sort of calming scented fume from the roof, which was really cool.

When I got to Kuala Lumpur it was misty and drizzling with rain. From where I stood, the airport looked small, but as i walked further in it opened up to this huge busy complex. I went and got my taxi voucher from the counter and the lady told me I needed to catch it near the Coffee Bean. I couldn't believe it, they have Coffee Bean in Malaysia too, yet we don't even have a single store in Canada? I decided my first order of business was to get some food, and good old reliable McDonalds was calling my name. After eating up, I went to the taxi rank my driver was really nice and giving me tips on the places to visit and telling me about himself.

I was taking in the scenery, the place was just a canopy of palm trees. One of my obsessions in life since I was a kid has been Palm trees (maybe because it symbolized warm climate) and there was definitely no shortage in this country. My taxi had a bit of trouble finding my hostel, but it didn't take him too long to orient himself. I did find it strange that the hostel didn't have a sign, but I guess they were trying to keep that 'homey' at Atmosphere. I was greeted right away by one of the employees (possibly owner?). She had me put my bag down and showed me around the bottom half of the house which consisted of a computer room, lounge, front desk, kitchen and a bathroom/shower combo. I didn't have too much time to spend at the hostel as I needed to go to Chow Kids (An organization for children without parents to care for them) where I was volunteering for the rest of the day and I was already running late. I got some directions from one of the employees on how to catch the monorail and off I went.

It was hot outside, but it was definitely more bearable then Thailand. As I followed the directions I stopped by a 7/11 to get some water and juice. At one point though as I was walking I realized I wasn't going the right away, which annoyed me because I was already sweaty at that point. I was covered from nearly head to toe, I knew that Malaysia was a Muslim country and I didn't want to take any chances, but as it turned out they apparently are not all that strict on dress code as I eventually saw that people seemed to wear whatever they want.

After walking in the right direction I spotted the monorail pretty easily, got my ticket and hopped on. I was proud of myself for managing to jump on public transportation within 20 minutes of arriving downtown KL. I got off at my stop, but from there the directions to the place I needed to go were vague. I ended up stopping in a store and asking for some directions. I walked down the way the girls had indicated, but I could not find the place I was looking for.

I asked about 4 more people and walked a whole lot before a lady finally knew what I was talking about and brought me to the door.

When I walked into Chow Kids, I took off my shoes and signed into their binder. The lady that I had been in touch with told me I could run upstairs and participate in any of the activities the kids were doing. When I got there, I was greeted by several older Malay women, the kids were sitting down watching tv. I didn't know how to interact with them at first, but then a little one came up and seemed to glue herself on me. Then there was another and another, next thing I knew we were all running around the place and the kids were jumping all over me. Everyone wanted their turn, but unfortunately there was just one of me for about 25 of them. After running around for a couple of hours, I decided to go down to the shop and buy the kids some toy and candy. When I got back, the toys and the chocolate were a definite hit, some of the kids were being greedy so I had to learn how to say share in Malay. The hardest part was trying to relate to them that I didn't speak Malay, luckily there was a ten year old boy there named Adam who spoke perfect English and worked as my translator.

I let a couple of the older kids that were there use my ipod, they seemed to be enjoying it.

I ate some lunch with the kids, I'd never eaten with my hands before and they were definitely entertained looking at me.

After a while I went upstairs to meet some of the older kids, although some of them seemed a bit more shy and standoffish. The younger ones followed me upstairs, a lot more play fighting ensued for the next few hours. After feeling completely knackered and in desperate need of a shower, I decided it was time to head back towards the hostel. The kids said goodbye to me Malay style (placing your hand on their forehead) which is a sign of respect. I definitely left knowing that I wanted to come back again, although I wasn't going to miss Adam calling me "Auntie" haha.

When I got off the monorail at my stop, I decided to wander into this mall complex before heading back. I guess I was still on a shopping high from the night market in Thailand. I didn't end up finding too much, but I did buy a strapless summer dress in the end and some flower hair clips. When I got back to the hostel, this bubbly Dutch blond guy came up and introduced himself to me. We said our hellos, and then Mac one of the employees came and showed me around the upper part of the house and to my bed. This was definitely my type of hostel, not too big and with a nice homey atmosphere so everyone could get to know each other. I climbed onto my bed and passed out as soon as I put my head down and woke up 3 hours later.

I went and showered and put on my new dress. I pottered around the Internet for a while before heading back up to the room. I started talking with an English guy that was in a few beds down from me and we then decided to go get some food to eat. We didn't' have to go very far as there was a really cheap Indian restaurant right next door. By the time we finished eating, it was late enough for me and I decided to head back to the hostel and get some proper sleep.